An industry source informed Mortgage Introducer that Barclays had sent a due diligence team over to NAB.
He said: “NAB could be an acquisition target. It owns Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, while seven out of 12 of the executives on its board used to work at The Woolwich, which Barclays owns.”
Yulande Stratford, spokeswoman for NAB, said: “We don’t comment on market speculation. But we are looking for interested parties in relation to our subsidiaries Northern Bank and National Irish.”
Emma Keens, spokeswoman for Barclays, refused to either confirm or deny the speculation.
Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at Charcol, said: “My gut feeling is that this is just a rumour. Only a few days ago John Stewart from NAB said it was very unlikely that would be selling its onshore companies.”
He added: “Barclays has lost some of its top mortgage people to NAB and this has been detrimental to the service provided by The Woolwich.
“Buying NAB would be a good way for The Woolwich to get its service back on track but this may not be a good enough reason for Barclays to put a bid in.”
Matt Gilmour, chief executive at Infinity Mortgages, commented: “It would be a sensible deal for Barclays. There is a strong relationship between Barclays and the Australian market.
“It all depends on whether the executives at NAB have been left with a sweet or bitter taste in their mouth concerning The Woolwich.”
